Wednesday, December 2, 2015

"Suffragette" - Has the battle really been won?

I went to the see the film "Suffragette" the other day with my daughter.

The story is about Maud, who is a working class woman who becomes embroiled in the fight for women's right to vote in the early 1900s in the UK.

On the whole, I thought the film was overly long and a surface once-over look at this time in history. But having said that, it was good to see the story from the working class point of view, for a change.

The value for me of the film is that it reminds us of the fight for suffrage, both historical and today. For example, my daughter didn't know about Emily Davison and how she lost her life for the cause at the 1913 Darby.

But at the same time, it made me sad because I wander how much women have gained. We still do not have parity in wages. Women in Australia are being killed by their partners at an alarming rate. In some parts of the world, women do not have the right to vote, and in other parts of the world they are sexual and economic slaves.

I wonder what Emily Davis would say about women in today's world. Would she think her sacrifice was worth it?

2 comments:

Sarah - I don't think the battle has been won by any means. However I do think that progress (less than we would hope, but more than the worst we could fear) has been made since the time of Emily Davison and I think she (and the other "Suffragettes" of that time would recognise that.

I think we just have to keep on "keeping on" and that social media will always help just causes for equality for everyone who needs it because it is so difficult to gag posts that are globally visible within seconds.

Thanks Jo. I totally agree. It is interesting to remind ourselves about the battles that women fought back in the day. And especially interesting to see things from the point of view of working class women. Thats the story you don't usually hear.

Sarah Stewart

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